General Motors and Lockheed Martin are collaborating on a new Lunar Rover. Tires are required; therefore, Goodyear is currently a member of the group. This dry, dusty ground has been traveled by GM and Goodyear before. Both businesses contributed to the first Lunar Roving Vehicles that NASA built and sent to the moon in the early 1970s. The three lunar rovers that GM (then collaborating with Boeing instead of Lockheed Martin) built are still up there, resting on wire-mesh Goodyear tires.
For several reasons, rubber-covered air-filled tires used on Earth won’t function on the moon. An air-filled tire is impractical because of the extreme temperature variations, which range from 260 degrees Fahrenheit during the day to -280 degrees at night. It would be incredibly challenging to prevent an air-filled tire from dropping flat at night or blowing up during the day because air expands and contracts in response to temperature variations. Second, because the moon has no atmosphere, it is exposed to extreme radiation that weakens rubber. Never mind that wearing stiff spacesuit gloves would make fixing a flat tire on the moon difficult.
But compared to 50 years ago, the difficulties are considerably larger now. In a sense, the first Lunar Rovers were useless. They were intended to function for a brief period before being abandoned as intended. The new Rovers, like the originals, are electric because internal combustion engines wouldn’t function on the airless moon. They can be recharged repeatedly so they can continue to operate for years.
Plans call for them to be able to drive and perform other tasks autonomously so they can be up there even when people are not around. Additionally, this means that the rovers will experience more drastic temperature variations for longer periods. Each moon day and moon night might last for two weeks. Additionally, temperatures change abruptly from extremely hot to extremely cold at each dawn and sunset. The partner corporations are discussing allowing non-NASA organizations, private businesses, and foreign governments to use them for moon projects. Goodyear is looking at new technologies because of the new tires’ anticipated extended operational life and the fact that receiving “roadside assistance” on the moon will require a very long wait.
The Lunar Rover won’t technically have tires in the conventional sense. Like the airless tires used on Earth, the wheels and tires will be one piece. Without a driver to change tires, Goodyear utilizes airless rubber on experimental autonomous delivery vehicles. Similar airless tires are offered by Michelin for lawnmowers and other machinery. The outer tread is held in place by rubber ribs rather than by air. Perhaps springy metal ribs will be used in Goodyear’s moon tires instead. Although it wouldn’t have the traditional solid, blocky tread you see on terrestrial tires, the tread surfaces might likewise be formed of metal.
Goodyear’s non-pneumatic tires, it’s more like an open weave or mesh with various forms of three-dimensional elements. The tires will require unique metal alloys to resist drastic temperature swings while maintaining flexibility and strength. It is particularly difficult to replicate the extreme cold of a lunar night on Earth because, at those temperatures, air would turn into a liquid. Tests must be conducted in a vacuum.
The sand on the moon’s surface is excellent and abrasive. Each sand particle has sharp points since there isn’t any air or wind to move and wear the sand particles. Businesses now produce synthetic moon dust from materials recovered by Apollo flights from the 1960s and 1970s, which is what Goodyear’s researchers are using to evaluate various tread patterns. To evaluate abrasion resistance, it can be used to create “moon sandpaper” by adhering to paper or board. Before NASA sends men to the moon in 2025, GM, Goodyear, and Lockheed Martin want to have Lunar Rovers already parked and waiting there. They aim to be the first to start long-term commercial vehicle operations on the moon’s surface.
